The project aims to address one of the biggest challenges in the rail sector: how to accurately determine the location of a moving train. Overcoming this challenge is key to ensuring fewer train delays and greater passenger safety.
The sensors and timing equipment of the UK's quantum technology center, led by the University of Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) are joining forces to solve this problem.
Experts from both centers will collaborate to develop a quantum navigation system, an autonomous system capable of capturing high-precision measurements without relying on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), which will help engineers ensure the health of railways and the comfort of passengers.
"The system we are developing will have gravity map matching capabilities, allowing engineers to understand what is happening beneath the track, as well as the movement of the train," explains Professor Clive Roberts, Director of the BCRRE at the University of Birmingham, and Co-Investigator of the Navigation work package at the Centre for Quantum Technology. "The quantum sensors will provide high-precision measurements that will help detect the rate of change of the track, and subsequently, any deterioration that could lead to failures.".
Professor Costas Constantinou, Chair of the Electrodynamics of Communication Chair and Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham, commented: "Our reliance on GPS can make navigation systems vulnerable to spoofing or, more frequently, to loss of position due to weak network signals - a particular challenge when trains are moving through tunnels, for example.
"Our autonomous navigation system does not depend on satellite signals and is therefore not exposed to the same external risks as GNSS.".
As part of the project, field tests will be carried out at the Long Marston test track in Warwickshire early next year, where sensors will be installed on a specially built stabilization platform for the train.
Industry collaboration is fundamental to the Centre for Quantum Technology's goal of translating science into real-world applications, and the Centre's academics are working with Network Rail and other international rail organizations to bring precise navigation to the rail sector.
The UK Centre for Quantum Technology, Sensors and Timing, which collaborates with the universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Southampton, Nottingham, Sussex, Imperial College London, NPL and the British Geological Survey, is also actively developing quantum inertial navigation systems for use in ships and cars.
